Part Time
by Agent Orange
Summary: Two years after the series, the gang runs into each other. Jin has a new profession, Mugen's reputation precedes him and Fuu tells it like it is. Even if she doesn't always know what it is herself. Complete.
1. Prologue

**Part Time**

Author's Notes: The occasional sleepless night or rainy afternoon still takes me here. This one poured out in smaller bits, over a longer time. Hope you find it enjoyable.

Takes place two years after the series.

Prologue:

I had had plotted out this moment so many times in my head. Perhaps I would be walking through the market, considering the catch of the day. I would look up and our eyes would meet. We would stare at each other disbelieving. "Is it really you?" I would say.

He would say something stupid.

Or nothing.

Depending on which one it was. And then I would run through the market, all twinkly and in slow motion. I would throw my arms around him and we would collapse in a joyous heap. "Mugen!" I would cry, if I were in a Mugen mood that day.

Or "Jin!"

Then we would laugh and laugh and music would swell from somewhere. And there would be butterflies and rainbows and everything would be very dramatic and grand, and then a customer would want something, damn it all, so I never got much further in my planning than that.

But it didn't go that way. When I saw him, it wasn't dramatic. The music didn't swell and the birds didn't sing. I looked up from busing a table and there he was. We noticed each other at the exact same time. It wasn't at all remarkable. It was just something I knew would happen, sooner or later. And now that the moment was here, it seemed as natural as any other day. "Well, I'll be damned."

"Hi, Mugen."


	2. And It Feels So Good

Chapter 1:

...And It Feels So Good

"You're still a freaking waitress?"

"What's wrong with that?" I asked.

Mugen shrugged. "Nothing, I guess. Just figured you would have like…I dunno. What am I trying to say?"

"Learned something?" I offered.

"Yeah, that."

I shrugged. "I like waitressing." That wasn't a lie. "I like it enough, anyway. What about you?"

"Oh, I didn't learn a damn thing," he said, his features narrowing into that wolf-like grin of his. He picked at his food in an odd sort of way for a moment, almost delicately, before shoveling the entire sum of it into his mouth.

"You're gonna choke," I said.

It looked as though he agreed with me for a second, but then managed to force the bulging mass down his throat. Charming as ever.

"So, what have you been up to?" I asked. "Seriously." I often felt it necessary to punctuate most of my sentences with the word "seriously" when dealing with Mugen. Seriously, usually followed by "stop it."

"Odd jobs," he said.

In other words, we both ended the journey the exact same way we started it. I wonder if this qualified as "full circle" or just pathetic. Mugen must have realized by the look on my face that he had just disappointed me somehow, because he suddenly got snippy.

"Well what did you expect?" he snarled. "That I was gonna be married with six kids or somethin'?"

"No!" I shrieked, trying to startle the thought from my mind. The very notion of him rearing children was horrifying. "God, no. I just...I guess I expected things to be different."

In fact, I had felt so different on the inside when I returned from our journey that it never occurred to me that my outsides hadn't changed. Seeing him again put my stagnation in sharp focus.

"You chicks are all whacked," Mugen said, apparently not wishing to develop this conversation beyond idle chit-chat.

"Chicks are not whacked," I corrected him. "_I_ am whacked. Don't chalk me up to a hormonal thing, all right? I hate it when you do that. It's so…."

"Dick?"

I rolled my eyes. Don't ever let Mugen fill in the blanks for you. "_Chauvinist_."

"Dick."

I drummed my fingers on the table, which seemed a reasonable alternative to slapping him. "_Anyway, _how long are you in town?"

"Like you're not sick of me already."

"Will you just answer the damn question?"

"As long as I want to be." He leaned back in his seat, balancing on that unseen force he always managed to utilize. We were both distracted by the familiar sound of breaking glass and a flurry of swear words. It was a fight. It wasn't uncommon. I always headed behind the bar until they died down. It just sucked having to clean up afterwards. Usually worked out to be an hour's extra work with no tips.

Mugen looked at me in a way that I did not recognize. And then I realized. He was asking for permission. In some odd way, I was touched. "Go ahead," I said.

He smiled broadly and lept up out of his seat. I retreated to my usual lookout post behind the bar. "Who's that guy?" my boss, Gengi, asked.

"Mugen," I said. Crash, bang.

Gengi cocked his head, taking in the violence with the morbid curiosity of a small child. "Is her your boyfriend?"

"No. He's just my…Mugen." I sighed. There really was no word for what we were. My least favorite moments on our journey were when people asked me to define it. Pow, smash.

Gengi dove out of the way of a far-flung chopstick. It stuck in the back wall, twanging almost playfully. That could have been someone's eye, I thought, then reached up to deflect a sake glass. Traveling with those two really honed my reflexes. Crack, smash. "He's a pretty good fighter," Gengi remarked.

"He's not bad," I lied.

"Does he want a job?"

"What kind of job?" said the disembodied voice of Mugen. I jumped and saw him hanging upside down from the top shelf of the wine rack.

"How would you like to be a bouncer?" Gengi asked, to my absolute horror. "Incoming, by the way."

"Yeah, I see him," Mugen said as he bashed his attacker over the head with a sake bottle without even turning around to look. "I dunno. Bouncer? Two bit drunks ain't much of a challenge."

"So then it'll be easy money," Gengi swerved out of the way of a body Mugen had just flung in his direction. I decided to take refuge in a cupboard under the bar.

"We don't really need a bouncer," I said, tugging on Gengi's kimono. "Things don't get that out of hand." Smash, pow.

Gengi bent down, both to avoid the latest onslaught of refuse and to whisper, "Yeah, but a couple nights like this and his reputation will be enough. After a week, all he'll have to do is stand there."

"He'll get bored," I argued, a hint of desperation creeping into my voice. "And besides he's kind of an idiot."

"I can hear you, you know," Mugen said from somewhere atop the bar.

"I know," I sighed. Like I never called him an idiot before. As if I held that particular opinion of him close to my chest so as not to hurt his feelings. Idiot.

Gengi seemed unmoved. "I'm not hiring him to balance my check book. I'm hiring him to be bad ass long enough to keep some sort of order in here. I have to pay to clean up after these fights, anyway. Might as well have one of the fighters in my pocket."

"You're making a huge mistake," I said, with the air of a closing argument. At least I was on the record. At least I had laid the groundwork for my soon-to-be-no-doubt-delicious, "I told you so." I began practicing how I would deliver the blow. I told you _so_. I _told_ you so. _I _told _you_ so.

Boom, whack.

I mustered the courage to stick my head out over the top of the bar and saw what was left of our patronage fleeing for their lives. Mugen was standing on the bar with his one foot resting on a beer keg. A rum bottle come vividly to life.

"I'll take the job," Mugen said.

"Fantastic."


	3. Domicile

Chapter 2:

Domicile

"You took that job just to annoy me, right?" I asked him, wiping an errant hair from my face and smudging my cheek with soy sauce in the process. At least he was kind enough to stay and help clean. Or at least sit around while I cleaned. It was nice to have company.

"That's about right," he said.

"And you don't have any place to stay." It was not a question. I knew this to be true, just by knowing Mugen.

"Nope."

Well, then. I had gone two years without any sign of him, without any evidence that we knew each other at all outside of my own memories, and within one hour he had managed to completely take over my life.

"Aw, come on," he smiled, reading my thoughts, as he occasionally did. "You know you missed me."

God help me, I did.

Gengi had set me up with a tiny little two room apartment over the restaurant. It was modest, but homey. Plenty big enough for one person, and it even had a little area for cooking. He thought it was only fair considering I was his only waitress, and that he couldn't really afford to pay me properly. Plus, I think he sort of took a shine to me. People are always taking shines to me. I still have not figured out how I feel about that. Or what that means.

But if it resulted in a free apartment, I was content to accept it for now. Mugen certainly didn't mind. He made himself right at home, cat-like, on the floor of my sitting room. I decided I would keep this little tidbit from Gengi. I didn't want him to feel like I was taking advantage. Even though I was, I did not want him to _feel_ that way.

I expected Mugen's presence to be a great inconvenience but in truth, I soon began to like having him there.

I liked tripping over him when I got up in the morning, and I liked hearing him rustle around at night. I didn't like it so much when I heard him pissing in my tea kettle, but I liked that I got him to go out and buy (steal) me a new one as a result. It was nice.

Though, it did take some getting used to. He tended to disappear after our shifts a few times a week, and then come back early in the morning all wired and jumpy. I'd hear him tapping out little rhythms on the floor with his knuckles or doing these spastic little katas. He seemed annoyed that he always woke me at first. I think partly because he felt bad and partly because he didn't want to deal with me. But once he accepted the fact that I was going to be an early riser as long as he was coming in late, he almost seemed to look forward to it. In fact, if I didn't wake up, he always managed to knock a pot over or trip over himself in most dramatic fashion. "Oh. You're up."

Then I'd make tea.

"Ya' know caffeine doesn't bother me?" he said once. "I can drink a whole kettle of that shit and go right to sleep." He seemed proud of this. Mugen: Tougher than Caffeine.

Sometimes we'd just sit and drink tea and not say anything to each other. And sometimes, if he were particularly high strung, we'd talk about everything. "I watched two birds do it."

"Yeah?" I smiled.

"Yeah. It was lame. The guy bird, at least, it probably was the guy. He had this whole dance. He was bobbin' around and flappin' his wings and just struttin' around like he was the shit. The girl bird seemed unimpressed. Like, who is this joker, you know?"

"Oh, I know."

"And he gets done doin' this whole routine, right? Like he was practicing this for days. And then finally, he gets up behind her and its like, bang, bang, bang and then done. And then he just flies away. It was like, three seconds. Tops. All that song and dance shit for three seconds of action. And the girl bird was just still sittin' there. All like, 'I shaved my legs for that?' It was so lame."

I nodded, taking that entire visual in. "I saw two turtles doing it once," I offered.

"Sweet."

The only thing it seemed we didn't talk about was our trip. And by default, Jin. I approached the subject one time during our shift, the one time I knew I had him trapped.

"Why you askin' about him for?" he grumbled.

"I was just wondering if you've heard from him."

"Nope."

I rolled my eyes. "And that's it?"

"I haven't heard from him. Just like you haven't. And that's it."

"Why are you getting so defensive?"

"I am not getting…whatever you said. I just haven't heard from him. Now, if you'd please shut up," he said, attempting formality as he hurled a sake glass at our burliest patron.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!" the customer boomed, over the sound of breaking glass.

"I have a fight to break up." Bam, biff.

He was totally lying. I just hoped it was, "Me and Jin had a lover's spat and now I'm being a baby about it" lying. If it was, "Something happened to him and I don't want to upset the dumb broad" lying…well. I didn't want to think about that.


	4. Don't Ask Me About My Business, Fuu

Chapter 3:

Don't Ask Me About My Business, Fuu

One night, Mugen never came home. I awoke the next morning to find that I had a) managed to get a good night's sleep and b) the sitting room was empty. He still had some of his crap there, so it seemed doubtful that he took off. I felt a familiar feeling in the pit of my stomach. It was one aspect of my journey to Nagasaki that I did not miss at all. That awful, horrible sensation that feels like your insides are ripped out. I silently cursed him for making me have to feel that again, and reported for my shift at the teahouse.

"Where's your friend?"

"Don't know," I said as casually as I could.

"He ain't a flake, is he?" Gengi asked.

I shrugged. "I told you hiring him was a bad idea." That was a waste of an I told you so. No one should ever have to deliver an I told you so while feeling so miserable. But if Gengi suspected there was something more sinister at work than a hang over, he didn't let on. I was left to stew in my own juices.

The second they walked in, I knew it wasn't good. Gengi knew too. They just had an air about them. An air of not good. I scuttled behind the bar for protection, and the two of us instinctively drew up our posture as they approached us. We must always present a united front. "Anyone else work here?" they asked.

"Just the two of us," I answered firmly. I stepped on Gengi's foot lightly so he knew this was the best course of action to take. Deny, deny, deny.

"Yeah?" one of them asked. "Pretty rough neighborhood, you know."

"We manage."

"Hmm. Sure you couldn't use some hired muscle?"

Gengi sounded like he was about to have a heart attack behind me. I told you so. I fucking told you so. "We manage," I repeated, more pointedly.

In a split second's time there was a dagger at my throat. First there was no dagger, then boom. Dagger. It felt like someone had snipped a few panels from a manga sequence. I took a small, nervous breath in spite of myself. Some things never really get old. "No one came around here? Looking for work?"

"No."

The larger man's eyes narrowed. He knew I was lying. What was keeping me alive was that he didn't know much else about me. Well, that. And the tanto I kept inside my kimono. I had it placed squarely under his genitals. He hadn't noticed, since the bar counter was between his line of sight and his own junk. He noticed now, though. "Well," the man looked at me with something veering on respect. "I guess we got the wrong place."

"Then I'll ask that you leave my teashop."

The man regarded me for another moment, and motioned for his partner to go. As soon as they left, the entire population of the restaurant seemed to let out a collective sigh of relief. In a couple of seconds, it was as if nothing at all unusual happened. I turned to see Gengi breathing in and out of a paper bag.

"What…the…hell…was…that?"

"That is what you get for not listening to me," I snapped. "Did I not tell you not to hire him?"

"Yes, you told me, all right? The world would be a better place if everyone just shut up and listened to Fuu, I know. Is that buddy of yours planning on coming back?"

"I have no idea."

"Cause he's fired. And really, Fuu. A young lady like you should be keeping better company."

I sighed and slumped against the counter in defeat. I know. I know, I know, I know. "I know," I said. And then I kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you."

And with that, Gengi and I were made up.

It was four in the morning when he returned. He didn't make a sound. I would never have noticed him, if I weren't sitting by the window waiting. I don't think he was planning on waking me this time. I stared at him for a good long while, letting him bake in the red hot glow of my anger and worry. He could never really handle that, and sure enough, he turned away from my gaze. He was bleeding. "I'm fine," he grumbled before I could say anything.

He tried to make his way over to the table, but stumbled a bit. He left a red smear on the wooden surface in his wake, and I got that damned feeling again. If I had gone my whole life without feeling like I did in this moment, I would not have minded. "There were people looking for you," I told him.

"Yeah? And what did you tell them?"

"Nothing."

He seemed genuinely apologetic for the extenuating circumstance I was now in. "You can't stay here," he muttered.

"Yeah, I was beginning to think that's where this was all headed. And what about Gengi? Will they come after him, too?"

"I don't think so," he said. "I think they know you're my connection."

"Fantastic. God, Mugen," I slammed my fist down on the floor. He seemed almost startled by my outburst, as if he had forgotten what it was like to have me shrieking at him. He took in a sharp breath and propped his head up on his folded arms, his eyes resting on some particularly interesting knot in the table. He clearly didn't have much to say for himself. I noticed a dark spot spreading on his shirt and nearly lost it. I had almost forgotten these parts of the journey. Two years and happier times glossed over them. "Let me see," I said, my voice cracking in spite of it all.

He didn't quite cooperate but did not expressly argue. I had to physically lift up his shirt to investigate. Nothing too awful. A couple of bad gashes here and there. Looked like one of them could use some stitches. I went rummaging through my kitchen until I came up with some sake and some thread. "Bend over a bit," I instructed. "And no whining."

Mugen grumbled as the needle pierced his skin, but after a few moments of rigid protest, he relaxed his posture and let himself lean against me while I worked. "Fuu," he said, after a time.

"Hmm?" I said, holding the needle in my teeth.

"We have to go."

"We do, huh? The two of us?"

"Don't give me 'tude. I'm tryin' to help you, you dumb broad."

"And they say chivalry is dead."

"Bite me."

"Aaaand we're done here," I sighed, tying off the last stitch. I inched just enough over to the left that he fell backwards, his head landing in my lap. "You know…we gotta stop this," I said, peering down at him with a chastising expression. "Uprooting each others lives. It's not becoming."

He closed his eyes and for the briefest of moments, seemed content to lie still. "What lives?" he said, moment passed. He had a point. I gently scooted my legs out from under him.

"We leave in the morning?" I ask.

He nodded. And so, another journey began.


	5. Triumvirate

Chapter 4

Triumvirate

The sun was just rising when we left, with nothing but the shirts on our backs. I didn't feel right taking anything from the apartment. It wasn't really mine to take. I said a silent prayer for Gengi's safety as another teahouse left my life forever.

I didn't talk much on the road. I had too much to say to risk opening my mouth, too many questions which I knew did not have straight answers. Who were those men? What did he do now, and how badly am I implicated? Why did he come to that teahouse? Did he know I was there? What does it mean if he did? What does it mean if he didn't?

I couldn't ask him any of these things, so I said nothing. He knew me enough to be grateful for that. Its funny, when you get to know a person. The easier it is to call someone out on their bullshit, the more pointless it becomes.

When we could no longer discern whose stomach was rumbling over the din, we ducked into a small eatery to grab a bite to eat. Mugen had nabbed a couple coins from an old woman who was folding tiny little paper cranes for money. We both pretended not to notice.

We ate wordlessly at a small table in the corner. I grabbed the last bit of sushi roll on the plate uncontested, which caused me to look up. I never got the last piece. Sure enough, his eyes were on a couple of gentlemen who entered the bar. The sames ones who were asking about him the other night. He ushered me out the backdoor, his gaze never leaving the two men.

I was preparing to sneak away when I saw Mugen unsheath his sword. I shook my head. "We can just leave," I whispered.

Mugen shook his head in return. "They'll follow us."

"If you kill them they'll just be others."

He sighed a bit at that. But although he seemed to agree, the argument was not enough to make him put away his weapon. "You're being a child," I pouted, not sounding unlike one myself.

Mugen turned and looked at me in such a way that said if I did not stop talking immediately he would use me as a human shield. I folded my arms and looked away from him. I might shut up but I didn't have to be happy about it. He ducked into the restaurant, and I waited.

I wasn't sure what I was waiting for. I never was. But as always, I knew it when I saw it. There was a chorus of startled screams, and the mangled body of the larger gentleman came crashing through the paper doors. Mugen followed soon after. "Go!" he said, and a small gaggle of bewildered lawmen tumbled after him.

So I ran. I wasn't sure where I was going or who I was running from, exactly. But I ran, somehow taking comfort in the fact that for whatever reason, these things always seem to sort themselves out. Suddenly, a hand reached out and clamped over my mouth. Before I even had time to react, I was yanked back behind an ally way. I stood still as a couple of plain-clothed cops ran by. See? The cosmos seemed to be saying. It all works out in the end.

In fact, the cosmos might have punctuated that argument with an exclamation point, for I knew immediately who my kidnapper was. I knew his smell, his hands, the way he seemed so very uncomfortable touching me. Caring not a bit for his personal space in that moment, I whirled around and threw my arms around him. His body stiffened as if I had just shot him in the neck with a poisoned dart gun and not, in actuality, shown him a sign of great affection. But slowly, as if his limbs were being manipulated by some unseen puppeteer, he returned my embrace. It was at once the very worst and very best hug I had ever been a part of. "Hi, Jin," I muttered into his shoulder.

He took a moment to process things, as he normally did. And then finally, "Hi, Fuu."

"Don't be so glad to see him," Mugen growled from behind us. Both Jin and I snapped out of the embrace, blushing as if our dad just caught us necking on the couch. "He's here to kill me."

Jin raised precisely one eyebrow. I took a step further away from Jin and gave Mugen a very piercing look. This better be good.

"I heard that the shogun offered him a wad of cash to take me out," Mugen explained, keeping his sword drawn. He did not yet move from his spot.

"That is true," Jin admitted.

"You sell out," Mugen spat, disgusted. "After the shit they pulled on you, you'd work for the government?"

"I fish."

Those two small words let the air out of Mugen's indignation. He was not expecting that. "Fish for what?" he sputtered.

"Fish," Jin replied simply, as if this was not the dumbest question he had ever been asked. "That's what I do for a living now. I was approached by the shogunate. They thought for enough money and a promise to clear my record, that I would double cross you. Since you were obviously in some sort of trouble, I thought it best to accept and hope that I would find you first." As he said this, it was clear he was reworking the logic in his head. He paused a second, and then nodded. Yes, it still works out, he seemed to think, and then said the next bit out loud. "Why would you think I had come to kill you?"

I shifted my gaze to Mugen, who to my surprise, looked completely and utterly embarrassed. It was the first time I had ever known him to appear off balance. "Uh…" he stammered, shifting his weight around from leg to uncomfortable leg. "Because…you suck?"

Silence. The three of us stood staring, a Mexican standoff of awkwardness. Though none of us said a single word, the following conversation took place in the span of about 6 sideways glances:

You're an idiot.

It's not like you'd be the first guy to sell me out.

I'm still hungry.

What was I supposed to think?

I wonder if he brought any money.

They don't have any money, do they?

Bet he took the money, too.

I'm really starving.

It's a good thing I took that money.

Smug little bastard.

I'm tired.

We better find someplace to sleep.

I'm glad you came.

Me too.

Jerk.

And so, having said our piece without actually saying anything to each other at all, we wordlessly turned and headed down the road.


	6. Into the Woods

Chapter 5

Into the Woods

Mugen was very much asleep. It was the most asleep I think I'd seen him since we were reunited. Nary an elbow to the face or kick to the stomach as I lay beside him. Funny that he never seemed to be truly comfortable in my flat, yet on the run from the law in an abandoned grain silo, he easily found peace.

I knew why this was, of course. The reason was lying to my other side, patiently waiting for me to realize he was not so sleepy. I rolled over and stared, giving him the cue that he could slowly shift his gaze to meet mine, if he so desired, and we could still pretend this was all spontaneous and accidental. Such was our secret language, still perfectly fluent after all this time. "Hmmm," I said when our eyes finally locked.

"Hmmm."

We stood just outside the doorway, gazing at the night sky. We often shared a good stand together on our journeys. Some people have long talks into the sunset. Jin and I always had long silences. "Fish, huh?" I said, after a time.

"Hmm," he said, and this particular "hmm" was dusted pink with the slightest flush of self-consciousness. "I picked up some pointers on the road. I thought it might suit me."

"Does it?"

He took a moment to formulate his answer, as he always did. I got the impression that he was constantly proving and disproving an array of thesis statements in his head, so that even when he ordered lunch, there could be no doubt it was the best possible lunch to order. "In some ways," he said. "I like the stillness. And I like the certainty. Knowing that tomorrow, I will fish. And the day after that, I will fish. And I will get two coins for each at the market."

I nodded, understanding. But then, here we are. Not at all still and not at all certain. "Then why did you come?" I asked. "Traveling with Mugen is none of those things."

"Stillness suits me in some ways," he replied. "But not all."

In some ways, but not all. In some ways, Jin knew me as deeply and as profoundly as one can know another person. But not all.

In some ways, Mugen filled the cracks and holes inside me, made me flush with things I could never feel or even give a name to otherwise. But not all.

In some ways they were the journey. In some ways they were the destination. In some ways I am only truly myself in their presence. In some ways. But not all.

"Egg?"

I awoke with Mugen practically shoving the thing up my nose. "Thanks," I snatched it away from him, rubbing the sleep from my eyes with my other hand. "Where'd you get it?"

He shrugged. "Around."

I gazed out the doorway and noticed a small blizzard of chicken feathers emanating from a nearby coop. Well, we're not long for this silo. "Suck it down, babe," he confirmed. "We gotta move."

I disliked raw eggs, but food was food. "Where are we going?" I said, after choking the goo down my throat.

"I got places."

"Quit being coy," Jin said flatly, gathering his hair away from his face. "It's irritating."

Mugen gave him a look before saying, "We're going to Danbo-rushi. Mean anything to you?"

Jin shook his head. I shrugged. "Feel better now that I've told you?" he asked.

We both shook our heads. "Then trust me for once in your god damn lives and lets go."

Since that one fell neatly under the What Choice Do We Have category, Jin and I obliged.

The more we walked, the more I realized we were going further and further into the woods. I tried to bite my tounge about my growing discomfort, but the truth was, I didn't trust him. To have my back when the shit went down, yes. But he could not be counted on to do what was safe, or wise, or to avoid what was not necessary. We were in enough trouble as it was, and it was getting dark. "Mu.." I began.

"Shush," he snapped.

"It's just…"

"Shut up."

"I mean, its getting sort of dark…"

"Seriously."

I huffed and looked away from him. How dare he bust "seriously" out on me. I am always serious. That would be like telling Jin to simmer down. Besides, I'm not the one leading my friends around on some wild goose chase, getting them in trouble with the law and being all _coy_ about it. I was about to officially register this complaint when several people dropped out of the canopy above, all of them wielding weapons. It wasn't long before yet another sharp object was pointed at my throat.

Jin's sword was already drawn, but Mugen did not budge. It was that strange fact, and I imagine that fact alone, that kept our assailants alive. Jin would have already ended them, otherwise.

"Mugen-san!" one of them exclaimed. "Shit, we thought you were dead!"

Mugen rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. What else is new. Yo, these are my, er…This is Fuu and Jin."

Jin and I looked at each other and then gave an awkward little bow. "Isn't that the guy they contracted to kill you?" one of the other men asked, pointing a sai right underneath Jin's nose. Jin, for his part, was unimpressed.

"Nah, he's cool," Mugen said, already walking away.

The man gave Jin a harsh once over. Jin regarded him as if he were a mosquito that had just alighted on his arm. "I don't trust him," the man declared.

"That's good," Mugen called back over his shoulder. "Cause he'll kill ya'. Don't you idiots have anything important to do?"

The young man gave Jin a "We're not finished here" look, before suggesting, "We need firewood."

"Great. Do that," Mugen said, still walking.

And so it seemed the young man did. There were several men of a similar age milling about the woods. In fact, the further we walked, the more apparent it became that this was some sort of makeshift village. And that Mugen was the mayor.

"What shall I do with these rabbit hides, Mugen-san?" one asked as he scampered up to us. He also paused to give us a withering glare.

"Uh...you could..." Mugen seemed to look at us for assistance.

"Tan them?" Jin suggested, ever helpful.

"Sure. Yeah," Mugen said. "Tan 'em."

"I could make hats!" the boy said.

"That's...uh, yeah. OK. Make hats," Mugen said, quickening his step.

"I shall make hats for everyone!"

"Goody," Mugen grumbled, dusting the kid off. "God damn," he said, when the boy was out of ear shot. "Hats. What's this world coming to?"

"You tell me," I said. "You seem to be running it."

"I don't run shit," he said with his usual casualness, even going so far as to grab a twig to stick in his teeth. Dum de dum.

"So you're saying this all sprang up around you like mushrooms?" I asked, gesturing at our surroundings. "That you went to bed one night after a good rain, and woke up to find a bunch of kids gathering rations and taking orders?"

"I don't give orders!" he snapped, a little louder then I think he had intended. Everyone stopped to stare. He cleared his throat, nothing to see here. Dum de dum. When it was clear we still had an audience, he spun around and glared. "I said, _dum de dum!_" his expression said, and everyone resumed their work, practically whistling as they did so.

"I think, perhaps, you have a tale or two to tell us?" Jin asked, his voice kind.

Mugen rolled his eyes and leaned up against a tree. "Perhaps."


	7. Mugen Tells a Tale

Chapter Six

Mugen's Tale

(as told by Fuu)

Once upon a time there was a boy who loved to fight. He fought anyone, for no reason other than to see who was best. Even love, or the night-long approximation he often found on the road, was a kind of fight. Always moving. Always rough. Always fun.

And then it wasn't.

It just took one time for things to change. One fight. And even though he still won, even though he was alive at the end and his opponent was dead, something was different. He realized not everyone fought to see who was best. Some people had reasons. And then, just as suddenly, he had reasons too.

He did not like having reasons. But once he had them, he had them. And when he tried to fight for no reason at all, it was boring. He tried inventing reasons to fight again. Reasons that were simpler, and less complicated. Perhaps someone called him a name. Or perhaps he was caught bedding another man's wife in the kitchen of Joe's Crab Shack.

"Don't eat at Joe's Crab Shack," said Mugen. "People have sex in the kitchen there."

But fake reasons weren't any better then no reason, and he found it was still boring. He fought all the good fights, he realized. There was no one left.

Then one day, he saw some members of the shogunate shaking down an old women at a bodega. She sold little coin purses. They said she needed protection. "Protection from what?" asked Mugen. "Little coin purse ninjas?"

And so, the boy who liked to fight broke their arms in three places. And that was fun. "Cause fuck 'em. You know?" said the boy.

When the old lady told her friend what he had done, her friend found Mugen. The shogunate took her grandson's dog because she did not pay a dog tax. Mugen did not know there was a dog tax.

So Mugen went to the guy's house, and smashed his nose, and got a dog. Five dogs, actually. None of them the old women's. But she was happy just the same, and she gave him dinner, and soon other people had favors to ask. And Mugen did them, because it was better then being bored, and it was better then sitting around, thinking about his own reasons.

But then something weird happened. What simply amounted to a bunch of errands to Mugen, suddenly seemed much grander to others. Soon people Mugen had never met thought they knew his reasons, and they believed them too.

And when people began to follow him, when they began to whisper his name in the streets, the shogunate began to suspect Mugen's reasons. They had a name for it. They said he was a terrorist.

And so they sent people after him, and Mugen killed them. Because he could. And because it was the surest way to not die. But with every new person he dispatched, his Reason grew grander. His Message got bigger. And he couldn't shake his new followers, or his new enemies.

"I kept telling them to fuck off," he said, exasperated. "But they just didn't. And then they started giving me tips and shit. Like, which whores were double agents. That kind of thing. That was good to know, so I just gave up. If they wanted to get me food or info or...hats...I guess...I let them."

"And now you have a revolution," Jin said, sounding equal parts concerned and amused.

"A revolution..." Mugen repeated, rolling the word around on his tongue. "Christ, I guess you're right."

I plopped down on a log. It was arranged in a homey way, next to other logs, around a fire pit. Someone had arranged it. Someone other than Mugen. Our Mugen. Who became a freedom fighter entirely by accident. "I can't believe it," I said quietly.

"I know, right?!' Mugen exclaimed, plopping on the log across from me. He seemed relieved to be able to talk like this. Like people, and not like generals and majors.

"What do you plan to do?" Jin asked, taking a seat on the third log.

"Uh...die, I guess."

"Mugen!" I knee jerked. The thought of either of them dieing still made my blood run cold.

"Aw, come off it, Fuu," he said, but a tad more gently then I would have expected. "They're sendin' them in waves. One of them's gonna get me."

"No," I insisted, immune to his logic. "We can get you out of this. Maybe...maybe if we faked your death," I said, thinking crazy. I had visions of dummies going over waterfalls, of scarecrows being torn apart by stampeding cattle. All that is left of him is his sandal, I would say, inconsolable. I'd walk the hills in a long black veil, until the timing was right and he'd reveal himself, and we would all laugh and laugh and move to Amsterdam.

"Fuu!" Jin said, startling me. I must have had the crazy eyes.

"Yes!" I yelped back.

"I don't wanna die, not even for pretend. If those guys kill me...if they even think that they killed me...," Mugen's eyes darted to Jin's. He looked almost as if he was pleading.

"...then you become a martyr," Jin said softly.

"And then they have everything," Mugen said, nodding. Something just passed between them, their own secret language that I never learned to speak.

I had a vision then, of him standing in the door way, his hair wet and matted down, telling me to leave. His death was always the one thing left he had to give. These people, both these children in the forest and the shogunate themselves, were trying to take it from him. And suddenly I was in the same place Jin was, starting at him from the same point on the map, and understanding.

"Well," Jin said. "I think there are ways out of this. But tell me. Do you ever see yourself staying out of trouble?"

Mugen stared directly into Jin's eyes for a moment, seemingly searching for something. Then finally, he said, "No."

"Then we have to get you out of Japan."

"But where will he go?" I asked, my voice sounding even more like a child. This decision was being made too quickly. He can't go where I can't run into him again.

Mugen shrugged. "I hear Bolivia is nice. Maybe I'll play baseball."

"This isn't funny!"

"I know. Baseball is very serious."

"Wherever you go," Jin cut him off. "We can't know about it. I might be able to get you into free waters, but that's all."

Mugen nodded. I did not like this plan. This is a very bad plan. Didn't I get a vote in any of this? "I feel this is a terrible plan," I piped up.

Both of the boys shrugged. They didn't have anything else. There wasn't anything else. Either we jettison Mugen like so much dead weight or we all go down with his ship. I felt like this was all pointless, that we would run into each other again only to immediately go our separate ways.

"Look, I'm not eager to run out and get stabbed or anything," I admitted. "But there has to be something between going down in a hail of bullets and shipping Mugen off on some banana boat, isn't there? I feel like...I feel like we're ditching you," I said.

Mugen and Jin looked at each other in that "bitch is crazy" way that I hate. "And what? This time you mind it?" Mugen asked.

I was indignant. "What you are you talking about. I never..."

"I believe it was you who last bid us an abrupt farewell," Jin said. "Twice in a row, I think, depending on how you define the word 'ditch'."

That was unfair. It wasn't a ditching as much as it was...an abrupt farewell. "You guys were trying to get away from me all the time," I said, folding my arms. Infinity, no backs.

"Right!" Mugen said. "That's like...our thing!" he gestured wildly between the three of us in a crazed sort of triangle.

"Is it!?" I said, raising my voice to defcon levels for the first time since we were reunited. "Is that Our Thing? That we just flit in and out of each other's orbits, leaving nothing but chaos and mass destruction in our wake? What the hell kind of a thing is that to have?!"

The three of us sat there for a moment, nothing audible but the sound of my heavy breathing.

"I dunno," Mugen said at last. "But it's Ours."

I sighed, defeated. And so it goes.


	8. Problem 1

Chapter 7

Jin felt it was best to divide our problems up into tiny bite sized chunks, much the way a squirrel carries one nut at a time back to his nest for the winter. Mugen and I went along with this metaphor, as we knew that whenever Jin got folksy, it meant he was on a roll.

Problem 1: The Mugang

"The Mugang?" Mugen raised an eyebrow.

I shrugged. "I like it. Plus it's easier than saying, 'Those poor misguided souls who inexplicably worship you.'"

We had skulked away into the night, huddled conspiratorially in the crook of an enormous elm tree. Mugen had muttered something about supplies. "He fishes," Mugen replied, when asked what he needed us for. "I guess."

This seemed to placate the troops, if not convince them. We were proving very unpopular in this Danborushi.

The "troops" were, in fact, first on our list of things we needed to take care of, and they were the trickiest. Mugen just couldn't go missing. If there was ever any possibility that their hero had been captured or killed, it would only give him more street cred. And as long as deeds were getting carried out in his name, then the government would never let up.

No, it wasn't enough to just ditch them. They had to be disillusioned. And in spite of it all, it wasn't something Mugen was particularly comfortable with.

"Well, its not like this a good idea," I reasoned. "Joining a terrorist group. If these kids were your friends, you wouldn't, like, recommend that. Right?"

Mugen made a snorting sound as he reached around for another twig to gnaw on. "No, man. I mean...duh."

"So?" Jin asked. It was a simple, honest question, but there were times that a single syllable from Jin could feel like the interrogation room of the Russian military.

"So," Mugen snapped, squirming under all this introspection. "So, it still sucks. That's all. It sucks if something you believe in turns out to be bullshit. No matter how stupid. Like, when I heard that you took that government mon..."

He didn't trail off as much as he stopped short. He clearly just took an unexpected left turn into intimacy and decided to bang a U-ie. Feelings were always his very least favorite topic of conversation.

"Well, they think you stand for something," I said, allowing him to back out of any potential male bonding. "Do you?"

"Do I what?"

"Stand for something? Because if you don't, then it's all bullshit anyway. And then all you're doing is telling them the truth."

Mugen paused. He looked at me strangely for a second, and then averted his gaze to the sky. It was barely visible among the think canopy of trees, but you could catch glimpses. Little picture windows carved through the leaves, giving you a peek at nothingness. We all looked, the three of us, composing our own private thesis. The whys and wherefores of who we are.

Then Mugen blinked as if coming out of a trance. "Freedom," he said, answering the question. No further analysis needed.

"Is any of this freedom?" I asked, once again gesturing at the whole situation. The running, the hiding, these kids who are too wrapped up in a fabricated crusade to figure out what they're truly missing themselves.

"No."

"Then we're not letting anyone down," I said. "We're setting them free."


	9. Problem 2

Chapter 8

Problem 2: We Need a Boat

No one in their right might would ever harbor Mugen. This would be true under normal circumstances, let alone when he was the most wanted man in all of Japan. There was no amount of favors that could be called in to cover that debt. So it was decided we would have to sneak him in. But before that, Jin thought it wise to try and lay some groundwork.

"Quite a basket you got there," said a gruff man as we approached the dock as casually as possible.

"Yes," Jin slammed it down. "Fish were biting today."

"I see," said the man. "What didja pull in?"

"Mackerel," Jin said.

"Yeah? Must be a shitload, for that basket to be so heavy."

"I have a bad back," Jin replied. He was talking in quick, staccato bursts.

"Huh. I've heard there was a shortage of mackerel," the fisherman said in a lilting tone. I wondered if that was even true, or if he was just trying to make Jin uncomfortable. If that was his aim, it appeared he was succeeding.

"Really? I hadn't heard. There are plenty of them down by the Hideki Inlet."

"My cousin lives by the Hideki Inlet," replied the fisherman, and I was quite positive at this point that he was making all of this up. "He went yesterday. Nothin' doin'"

"Guess I just have a knack," Jin said, giving a little nervous chuckle so painful to listen to, I grabbed my own temple at the sound. "Well, I'll be going," he said as he hoisted the basket with a labored groan.

"What boat company you with, sailor?" the fisherman thumped the basket down to the ground so suddenly, Jin almost lost his balance.

"Boat company? I work for that one," Jin said. "The one with that...boat."

"Yeah, right" the fisherman grumbled as he flung off the basket lid to reveal...me. Trying my best to produce puppy dog eyes, which wasn't that difficult, as the knocking about had me quite desperate to get out of this thing.

"What the hell?!" the fisherman jumped back.

"Please, sir," Jin said. "She has no where else to go."

"I can't have a stowaway on my ship, kid. That's that."

"Please," he leaned closer to the fisherman, all the while giving me a sideways glance that said, Look cuter!

I scrunched my nose up. Adorable Powers, Activate!

"She's my little sister. Our father has some gambling debts, and he was planning to..." Jin trailed off. Please don't make me say it, his pause seemed to express. This is undignified enough.

The fisherman looked just as uncomfortable. "It's not my problem, kid," he said, rubbing his neck. Cuter still! Said Jin's eyes.

"Please, mister," I said. "Don't make me go to the Bad Touch Place." Too much? I asked Jin with a raised eyebrow. Jin looked as though he was going to vomit, which I took to mean, Probably.

The fisherman turned a deep shade of crimson. "All right! Geeze. Look, just get her on there," he said, slamming the lid back on top of my basket. "Hurry, all right? Stick her in the back by those cargo crates. No one will notice. We're shipping a bunch of souvenir pottery on the side, no one has any reason to go through that crap until we dock. She has to get off before they start unloading, though, and if she gets caught, I know nothin'. You hear?"

"Oh, yes, thank you, sir!" Jin started bowing profusely. "May fortune smile upon you for this good deed!"

"Yeah, yeah. Go!" the fisherman spoke out of the side of his mouth.

Jin picked me up effortlessly this time as he ushered the basket into an out of the way place. He stood in front of it for a second while I climbed out, and then slid some sand bags he was carrying under his kimono to compensate for the weight, in case our friend were to bump into it. If he ever felt compelled to look inside, we were screwed, but we were gambling on his wish not to be implicated. He didn't know who my father was.

Jin then gestured over the side of the boat. I was going to have to jump and swim. I knew this going in. But it still sucked.

"Squeeeee," I tried to muffle my voice as I hit the water. I sputtered and gurgled to a dock about half a mile down the way, trying to be as nondescript as possible. Jin was already there to help me out when I arrived.

"That...was distasteful," he said.

"It wasn't my proudest moment," I agreed. "You think that'll work?"

Jin shrugged. "The basket has one ally on that ship. That's better than none at all. At this point, the best we can do is improve our odds."

I nodded as I wrung out my hair. We stood staring at each other for a moment, then back at the ship where he hoped to hide our fugitive terrorist friend in practically plain sight. "We're out of our minds, right?" I asked.

"Hmm," Jin replied. "No question."


	10. Problem 3

Chapter 9

Problem 3 – The Feds

This was the part of the plan Mugen and I had the least control over, and we both found it unnerving to say the least.

Jin was confident he could..._convince_ the shogunate of certain things. In fact, our plan hinged on us convincing several people of several things at once.

First, we had to convince Mugen's comrades to rob the treasury at city hall. That wasn't so hard. "Because fuck 'em! That's why!" was Mugen's rational, met with thunderous applause.

Then, we had to convince them that Mugen sold them out to the shogunate, which would be partly true, because Jin had already gone back to them with the robbery plans. If the cops show up at city hall, but Mugen does not, it wouldn't be hard to draw that conclusion.

But then there was me, operating as a double (triple?) agent. I know that the cops know about the robbery. So I can tip off the gang ahead of time, which will hopefully lead to less arrests.

As for making sure the shogunate don't continue to pursue Mugen, Jin would only say he'd take care of it.

"This is bullshit," Mugen sniffed. "I should be in on the convincing! I'm very persuasive!"

Jin almost laughed. "I'd say so. But you can't be involved. We really should know as little about each other's grander plans as possible. It gives us plausible deniability."

Mugen scrunched up his nose. "It gives us who in the what now?"

Jin sighed. "Just...trust me. This one time. And then if all goes well, you'll be rid of me."

Mugen smiled a bit, and then kicked a stone with his sandal. "Fine," he grumbled. "You know you suck donkey balls, though. Right?"

Jin shrugged. "You've informed me of that before, yes."

"Good. Just checking." Mugen sort of tapped Jin's sword with his own as he ambled past, and then that was it. I believe that was their version of goodbye. Possibly also, I love you.

Boys are so weird.

* * *

"Where the hell is he?" I heard someone whisper harshly behind me. The air was getting thick with anger and anxiety. All around me I heard the hum of general discourse, and a bad feeling started growing in the pit of my stomach.

Jin brushed his hand slightly against mine as he passed, whether by accident or to reassure me, I wasn't sure. I appreciated it regardless. It was nice to be reminded I had a friend out here.

I knew my role in this, my one job, was approaching. We were barely within eye shot of the building, looking dim and ordinary in the night. Jin took a few steps back into the cover of the trees and nodded at me. I took a breath, and it felt as though I had swallowed sand. I was about to usher in my own private Armageddon.

"IT'S THE COPS!" I screamed.

And then everything happened. All at once.

The gang scattered, darting into trees and swinging into branches. Some swore and cussed, and others charged the building, determined not to be taken in quietly. I felt as though I had wandered into a stampede of raging wildebeests and I steeled myself against a tree as the chaos erupted. There was a sudden thunk in the thick wood beside me and I realized my kimono had been pinned to the base of the tree with a throwing knife. "You traitorous bitch!" one of the boys yelled at me, eyes wild.

But before he could exact his vengeance, a member of the shogunate appeared behind him and knocked him out cold. "You OK?" he asked me, but then he too collapsed in a heap with my assailant. A flash of impossibly white skin flicked out to pluck the knife from the base of the tree.

"Here," Jin handed me the knife, barley looking at me. His attention had already focused on the next scuffle. His job was to stall. To minimize. To assist without being seen. I watched, dumbstruck, as he swung himself up into the branches and over to where another cop was apprehending a young boy. The kid was screaming, frothing at the mouth, and it was easy for Jin to dart from the canopy above and immobilize the cop before anyone knew what had happened. By the time the boy collected himself to realize that somehow, magically, he was free, Jin was back at my side.

"Find Mugen," he said. "He should be on his way to the dock."

"He won't be," I said. "He's here somewhere, I know it."

Jin looked at me, and he didn't even have to issue an "Hmmmm" before I knew my next job. Make sure he's on his way to the god damned dock.

I nodded and took off further into the woods, the sound of my own feet pounding the Earth joining the chorus of dozens of others doing the same. We were all just running, crazed and scared, towards whatever was next.

I heard a voice ring out behind me, and then I was on the ground, tangled in a mass of flailing limbs. "You're under arrest!" a voice cried, almost comically. He didn't sound so sure, as a fist emerged from the pile up and struck him square in the jaw.

Fed up, the cop just punched back, jamming his own fists into the pile of flesh and connecting with whatever was available. Everyone was just slapping, screaming, refusing to go quietly into the good night, and it was impossible to tell just how many people were embroiled in this most inelegant of scuffles. Someone punched me in the back of the calf as I struggled to break free, which was enough to seriously piss me off. I pulled out the knife Jin gave me and poked someone, medium style, in the ribs.

"OW!" one of the boys sprung up, startled, and we all rolled off of him, untangling in the process.

"You're all...under...YOU'RE ALL UNDER ARREST!!" the cop screamed as people began to spring up and dart towards freedom. "Come _on_! You're all under..." Thunk.

A sandal bounced harshly off his forehead. The cop stood there for a moment, as if debating whether or not this was how he wanted to end his night, and then toppled over. Yes, was the apparent conclusion.

No one had stuck around to witness this, however, and I was free to ask, "Shouldn't you be half way to the dock by now?"

Mugen swung down to retrieve his sandal. "Yer welcome. Geeze."

"We have to go," I insisted. Mugen was gazing towards the action, and his eyes looked like a gate holding back a dozen thoroughbreds.

I grabbed his arm. "Don't make this all for nothing," I said.

His muscles tensed in my grasp. "Fine," he said without looking at me. "Let's go."


	11. Its Only Teenage Wasteland

Chapter 10

It's Only Teenage Wasteland

We ran through the woods as fast and as reckless as ever, branches whipping at our skin as we went and lashing up our thighs. We could see the lights of the pier through the trees, and I knew soon we would loose our cover. The trickiest part of this whole process was probably going to be the last 30 yards.

I held my breath as we barreled towards the clearing, and sure enough, I almost ran headlong into a young boy. The same boy that was so suspicious of Jin when we first arrived. He was pointing the same sword at Mugen.

"This is a really stupid idea," Mugen said, skidding to a halt. He drew his own sword but did not yet raise it.

"I'll say," the kid replied, his voice shaking. He lunged for Mugen, who easily swung the kid around so that they were now a mirror image. "Really stupid," Mugen repeated. "I'm gonna kill you if you fight me. Like, there's not even a question."

"Yeah?" the boy replied, and then we were surrounded by six or seven others. They all looked so young, and angry in that particular way only young people can be. "How about now?"

I looked at Mugen. It was a fair question. He caught my incredulous stare and seemed slightly miffed before answering, "Pretty sure it still won't be a problem. Watch out for this one," he said, wagging his head towards me. "She bites."

One of them took a few steps further away from me, looking me over wearily. Perhaps he was scoping out my incisors.

"What difference does it make?!" the boy yelled sharply, as if Mugen was just trying to change the topic. "We were willing to die for you, anyway! And now what?!"

"So you walk away and don't die for anyone. Sounds like a good deal to me," Mugen said, still not quite raising his sword.

"You sold us out!" another one shouted from the crowd, and for whatever reason, this set Mugen off.

"What the fuck were you buying into?! Huh? Did you ever think about that?! " he shouted, flinging his arms around so wildly I actually had to duck to avoid being scalped. "Everyone's all, 'I'm ready to die for your beliefs.' _What the fuck does that even mean?_ Do I have a bumper sticker on my ass I don't know about? Huh? What do I believe in? You tell me!"

It was a me-caliber outburst, a tantrum of epic proportions. It was all the confusion and doubt and frustration he was feeling over this Messianic role foisted upon him that never suited him to begin with.

It seemed to throw the boys for a loop. Whatever they were expecting when they snuck off to confront their disgraced leader, this was clearly not it.

"That wasn't rhetorictical," Mugen said, when his questions were met with stunned silence.

"Rhetorical," I corrected him in a small voice.

"Rhetorical. Thanks," he gave me an appreciative nod. "Like, I'm asking you. Why are you here?"

The kids looked at each other for a moment, and then they all answered at once. It sounded like:

"Justicefreedomofexpressionreligionnotaxationwithoutrepresentationnorestrictionsonbiggamehunting."

There was another pause. "What?!" everyone said at once.

And then the de facto leader of this splinter group piped up, "Justice! OK?" he turned quickly to face the others and nodded authoritatively. "We'll go with that."

"No, _you_ go with that," Mugen growled, now officially throwing his sword on the ground. He ran his fingers through his hair and rubbed his sinus. He looked like a frazzled kindergarten teacher more than a warrior. It was a side I never imagined I'd see in him. "That's what _you_ go with. You believe in that. I mean, that's why you're out here, wavin' swords around and cussin' out cops. Something happened to you to make you want justice."

The boy's eyes glazed over for a moment, and it was clear he knew the exact moment. The very instant he decided that the world was unjust, and that had to change. "And how about you?" he gestured to another kid. "What's your scenario?"

The boy sort of blushed for a second and then said meekly, "I was the one who wanted fewer restrictions on big game hunting."

Mugen and I looked at each other. "Really?" I asked.

"I have a big family!" he exclaimed. "I'm one of 13 kids! We can't feed everyone with freakin' rabbits! But they make the licenses so expensive that only the rich people can afford them, and they're just mounting them on walls anyway..."

"OK," Mugen said, cutting him off. "So there you go. You all know your Reasons. You're not wandering around, running into walls or some shit. You know what's up. What do you need me for? Besides gettin' you all killed?"

The bell rang out on the pier, and all of us turned to look at it, startled out of whatever uneasy reverie we were in. I looked at Mugen, urging him to get a move on, and he looked away from me.

"So why like this?" the leader asked again, a certain amount of resolve back in his voice. He stood up straighter now. More like a man.

Mugen sighed heavily, kicking his sword off the ground and into his hand with the toe of his sandal. "If I asked you nicely, would you have listened?"

The bell rang again. I was starting to do a mild approximation of the pee-pee dance. I wasn't sure what would happen if we missed that boat. I didn't even know what was happening a mere two miles behind me. Jin could have been arrested, for all I knew. Maybe worse.

"OK..." the kid seemed to concede, finally lowering his sword. The others followed suit. "So now what?"

"Now go fight the fight you were all really fightin'. And kick ass."

For a moment, the boys seemed taken aback by the simplicity of it all, which was a common reaction to Mugen. Complicated questions. Monosyllabic answers. Go. Fight. Win. That's all there is to it, really. Adding all these layers to it just weighs you down.

Ultimately, the boy gave a funny little backwards shrug towards the heavens. "S'aright?" he seemed to be asking the universe. And the universe said, "S'aright."

It always does, when you take the time to listen.

Making a bewildered sort of huffing sound that reminded me of Jin, the lead boy waved us off. "Go," he said. And that was that. Mugen's Day Camp for Wayward Youths was over just as suddenly, and as accidentally, as it began. It occurred to me then that was true of most things in life. Your biggest moments are unplanned, unexpected, and transient. You can only hope you recognized them for what they were as they leave.

Mugen took a few steps backwards, whether as a way of saying goodbye or to make sure they weren't going to change their minds, I couldn't be certain. Then we spun on our heels and took off for the boat.


	12. Sitting By the Dock of the Bay

Chapter 12

Sitting on the Dock of the Bay

When you're young, and by that I mean, when you don't know much yet, the world is huge. I lived in a tiny cottage with my mom, and it seemed to be about the smallest place in the universe. I wondered about this big world that took my father, and what it held for me. I thought if I found him, then some grander plan would be revealed. That I would know my Reason, and that it couldn't possibly have been inside that cottage. We barely fit there ourselves, and whatever my plan, I thought it would be _big_.

But then I found my father, and he was just a frail and lonely man, living in exile for taking his own shot at the Big Picture. He was tiny. And then that cottage, and my mom, didn't seem so small.

Jin grew up in a dojo, but to him it seemed like a fortress. And it housed all sorts of ideals, and values, and he was their mightiest guard. Until the one day he found himself, small and afraid, covered in his masters blood. And it was just a room.

Mugen lived on an island, but he always had to see for miles. Always looking for the bigger score, the longer con. Always keeping two steps ahead of your friends so you can pin point the exact moment they become your enemies.

And somehow, as we all negotiated the size and scope of our private worlds, they all converged in the very same spot on a beach. Where three strangers were shocked to discover they didn't really want to kill each other at all.

The world became a very small place indeed. Small enough that we knew we could go our separate ways and find each other again. Small enough that we knew when we needed each other, we would be there. Just like that.

Maybe there are bigger Reasons for us out there. Maybe there will be a revolution someday, and maybe one of us will lead it. But while we're all out there wandering, there's one reason you have to figure out first. And that's the reason to come home.

Mugen found his reason that day on the beach. I think he didn't want to rob the others of finding theirs. And I was proud of him.

I was proud of all of us. It was the first time our little family was tested since we realized that's what we were, and we came through. We'll come through again, some day. It's a small world, after all.

* * *

We didn't say a word to each other as we finished the last leg of our journey. Not even a grunt or an insult as we ducked and darted behind crates and row boats and piers. Not even when a nail snagged the hem of my kimono as I clumsily hoisted myself onto the fishing boat, nearly exposing my buttocks to the open sea.

He didn't speak until he had one leg inside his designated basket. He scrunched his face up and said, "Ew. It's wet."

And then I kissed him.

I kissed him because I couldn't say what I was thinking on the way over here, and I kissed him because he sort of knew it anyway. I kissed him like it was the first time and the last time. Like we were lovers and like we were friends. Like he was a white knight and a frog prince. I kissed him because this was goodbye, for awhile, and both of us sucked at goodbyes.

And when it was over, it was over. He leaned back for a moment, sort of taking me in, my crazy eyes, my flushed cheeks. He smiled, shook his head, and slapped the lid of his basket down. "Crazy broad," I heard him mutter to himself, and then I heard an entirely different sort of muttering. I quickly ducked down behind the other cargo.

"Did you hear something?" one of the fisherman asked.

"Nah, it's the wind," said another, and I recognized the man Jin and I took as collateral down by the pier. I could almost feel him winking at me through the baskets as he turned and left. Perhaps our little theater wasn't all for naught.

When I was certain no one was around, I knew it was time to go. Not having much else to say to the basket, I said a tiny prayer my mom used to say for the fisherman whenever we'd enjoy their spoils, and hopped over the side.

I swam slowly this time. There was no rush. We had been rushing since we hit the road, and I wanted to savor the stillness of the morning. I knew no one would notice me now, a tiny girl in a huge ocean. My stint as a part time terrorist was over. I was Fuu the Waitress, and I was just taking a dip.

Jin was waiting for me at the pier, just as before. He seemed mildly disheveled, but his expression was as calm and cool as ever. He helped me out of the water and handed me a dry robe. The second I put it on, I realized it was one of his. I sighed contently and snuggled into it, if I didn't quite dare snuggle into him.

"How did things end up?" I asked him, legs hanging over the pier. He still stood at attention, as if he was not ready to clock out just yet.

"I spoke to the shogunate."

"And?"

"I told them that I took care of Mugen, which is what they paid me to do. I told them that it would be in their best interest to drop any charges they were planning on slapping on those kids. And I told them that if I ever heard so much as Mugen's name whispered by anyone on the government dime, that they will have a new problem on their hands. They seemed agreeable. They should be. It's a win/win, really."

I whistled softly. "Wow. You really told them. I think that's the most I've heard you tell anyone at one time."

"Hmmm," he shrugged. "I was feeling frisky."

I giggled, and for whatever reason, my laugh seemed to be his five o'clock whistle. He sat down next to me, Jin the Fisherman again. We watched the ship depart as it carried our friend to parts unknown. No longer a terrorist himself, but merely a basket of tacky pottery. We watched until it was nothing but a black speck disappearing over the horizon, and then we watched the empty space where there was once a speck, and then finally, we watched the sun go down.

"So..." said Jin after a time, his legs dangling next to mine. "Have you ever considered fishing?"

I smiled. Sure. Why the hell not?


	13. Epilogue

Epilogue

Jin decided to take up residence in the Danborushi for awhile, with ultimate designs to build or purchase a cottage. Whichever option was more opportune. I asked him what he left behind, since surely there must have been something. "Nothing I can't find again," he said.

Mugen was considerate enough to stage his coup near a coastal town, and Jin felt it was in everyone's best interest to stick around for awhile. Make sure things have really cooled down the way he was promised it would.

And for their part, it seemed things did. He later told me a story where one day he noticed a cop trolling the bodegas for protection money. He was foolish enough to approach Jin's fish stand, not realizing at first who he was. All Jin had to do was raise an eyebrow, and he hurried himself along. Jin noticed many people raising their eyebrows to such behavior these days. Though no one spoke of Mugen, it seemed he wasn't entirely forgotten.

I decided to go back to the tea house. Gengi was thrilled to see me. The replacement waitress wasn't nearly as cute, he said, and he was losing customers. He offered me the old apartment, and the old job. But I didn't have the heart to oust the new girl. I told him I'd find my own place.

Jin gave me a cut of Mugen's bounty, anyway. He said I earned it. I tended to agree. And since we now had a surplus of staff, I suggested that Gengi take a couple of days off. He warmed to the idea, and soon, I was a part time tea house manager.

Which suited me just fine, as it allowed me to also be a part time fisherman. About twice a month I'd journey back to Jin's place, and help him fish for the weekend. And more importantly, sell his fish, which he wasn't terribly good at. He's not the most charismatic soul. He'd stand straight and stock still over his catch, as if he was daring the populace to buy from him. The townies soon learned that was just the way he stood. I think he appreciated my help with the weekend crowd.

And I learned fishing suited me in some ways too. I liked the squishy-ness of it. The worms and the dirt and the fish themselves as they tried to wriggle free. It was wet and gross and it made me feel like I was seven years old again. Strange to think this is an adult profession.

I'd occasionally run into members of the Mugang. We never said much to each other, just sort of gave each other an awkward nod. Like someone you got drunk with at a party the night before, or just dreamed about last night. Some of them left town. Others settled down with families. The kid who confronted Mugen and I in the woods, I learned his name was Naoko, eventually got a position within the shogunate.

I thought that was odd, but when I asked Jin about it, he only said, "Sometimes it's better to flow with the water."

I think I know what he means. I did notice a serious drop in the cost of big game hunting permits.

* * *

_Three Years Later_

"Are you sure you want to use that knife?"

I placed the knife in question down on the counter and glared at Gengi. "The knife I've used every single day for the past two years? Yes. I'm sure."

"I just think it's...common. For such a fish."

"You want I should use Jin's sword?" I huffed.

"Do you think she could?" Gengi turned to the ronin in question.

"While useful for many things, this particular sword is not the best instrument to prepare sushi," he said. His words were measured, but his tone said, bitch, please. "Fuu has more than enough skill to handle her own knife."

"Thank you," I said, kneeling back down to inspect my prey at eye level. Sushi, it turns out, specifically the making of it, was the perfect balance of the squishy and the beautiful. And that suited me perfectly. Our little tea shop had garnered quite the reputation.

Eyes squinted, tongue out, I prepared to make my incision. "Fuu!"

"Oh my God!" I shrieked. "You almost made me slit my wrist. What is wrong with you?!"

"We only have one shot at this!" Gengi barked, and he was right.

The particular fish Jin brought us today was rare, and an oddity in this region. It was sheer dumb luck that one wandered into his net. And it was kismet that it happened just as there were rumors that there was some diplomat of France, or some such nonsense, in the area.

Gengi was determined to be internationally renowned. But right now, he was just cramping my style. "Back off," I growled, and then restarted my work.

If I sliced it at just the right angle, this fish was supposed to be God's gift to taste buds. But if I went even slightly against the grain, you might as well be eating sandpaper. This was the sort of thing I liked about sushi. The agony and the ecstasy of life, all rolled up in sticky rice.

My knife blade was just about in its flesh when Jin put his hand on top of my head. I knew it was him without looking up, and I had to wonder why he was tempting fate in this way. Disrupting me in that moment is an excellent way to lose a finger. "Not now," I grumbled.

He responded by wagging my head back and forth with his palm, and I honestly considered he might have a death wish. "_Seriously_," I hissed.

"I'm always serious," he said. And with that, I looked up.

"Bonjour, babe."

Inside, I did a thousand cartwheels and enough backflips to make a Chinese acrobat dizzy. Inside I had a thousand questions, treading along the lines of where he's been, whether he could possibly be a French diplomat, and how he had received the latest batch of scars.

But outside, I said what I will always say, every time, now and forever.

"Hi, Mugen."

_-The End-_

Author's Note: So that's it. It was weirdly comforting for me to write this. I don't know why, really. It was just a nice place to visit once and awhile. I hope it was nice for you reading as well. I adore those three, and I tried to do them justice. Thanks for the feedback, everyone! It's nice to hear from you!

-AO (uh...out).


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